A quail egg is like a protein-filled, free lunch, waiting on the ground to be spotted—and devoured—by a predator. But the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) seems to have mastered an impressive level of camouflage-manipulating behavior to keep her eggs off the menu. Female Japanese quails tend to lay distinctive eggs that are specific to each [...]

December 21, according to much-hyped misreadings of the Mayan calendar, will mark the end of the world. It’s not the first “end is nigh” proclamation—and it’s unlikely to be the last. That’s because, deep down for various reasons, there’s something appealing—at least to some of us—about the end of the world.   Enjoy the Self-Fulfilling [...]

The slimy-looking cephalopod, captured in a rare video crawling over land, has many people (queasily) asking whether such bizarre-looking behavior is unusual for these animals. The video, recorded at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in San Mateo County, California (originally uploaded in June but promoted earlier this week on Boing Boing), shows an octopus laboriously lugging [...]